1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus having a function to write image data into a portable storage medium, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image processing apparatuses having a variety of functions, such as copying, PC printing, scanning, faxing, and file server, have recently come into widespread use. Such image processing apparatuses are sometimes called “multifunction devices”, “Multi-Function Peripherals (MFPs)”, or the like.
Further, the functionalities of image processing apparatuses are increasingly improved. Software products for image processing are also diversified. There is also proposed an image processing apparatus for performing image processing in cooperation with a server.
An image processing apparatus has been provided with a Universal Serial Bus (USB) serving as an interface to connect the image processing apparatus to another device.
In recent years, a portable storage medium such as a USB flash memory or a portable hard disk has become inexpensive. This enables a user to readily use such a portable storage medium also in an image processing apparatus.
An apparatus is proposed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-178066. The apparatus is configured to save, to a removable memory, image data obtained by scanning a document image with a scanner with the amount of usage of the removable memory suppressed. The apparatus saves, to the removable memory, not the image data but positional information of the image data saved in a server.
The method disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-178066 makes it possible to reduce the quantity of data stored in a portable storage medium. The method, however, involves accessing a server to download data every time the data is necessary. In view of this, as long as the storage capacity allows, it is more convenient to store data itself than to store a storage location of the data in the server. As mentioned above, the storage capacity of recent portable storage media has been increased. While network environment is being enhanced, it is desired to read out data directly from a portable storage medium as far as possible.